Sunderland boss Steve Bruce: Pampered players are just trouble

He was brought up by the greatest exponent of the hairdryer treatment, watched Sir Alex Ferguson reduce grown footballers to tears and he has been known to let fly at his own players in more than 10 years in management.

But times are changing and, in the wake of spats involving fellow bosses Tony Pulis and Jim Magilton this week, Sunderland manager Steve Bruce admits it is becoming increasingly difficult to manage the modern player.

Tough job: Sunderland manager Steve Bruce

'It never used to get out of the dressing room,' Bruce said. 'The manager would get hold of you and there would be a fight every other week. The number of fights I've seen . . . that's the way it's gone, with the media spotlight, Twitter, it spreads like wildfire.

'You can't really financially hurt players any more. The biggest difficulty, as every Premier League manager will tell you, is motivating them with their fantastic wages.

'What I will say is that the really great players would have been the same if they were playing for a penny: they would still want to be the best and that's what separates them from the average Premier League player.

'When it comes to a Saturday they want to be the best player on the pitch. Mentally they are strong and they would trample over their grandmother to get what they want.

'The ones who aren't quite as good are the ones that cause you problems. You get trouble from average players, the really top players don't give you any.'

So how does Bruce get the best out of a player like Kenwyne Jones, a handful for any defender on his day, but arguably the most laid-back in the country?

The Trinidad and Tobago striker returned to the Sunderland side for last week's defeat at Fulham but looked jaded after a lengthy lay-off through suspension.

Bruce, who could be without five defenders for Portsmouth's visit to the Stadium of Light, is hoping new signings like Lee Cattermole, who is on the verge of an early return from injury, can help inspire the players he inherited from his old Manchester United team-mate, Roy Keane.

Bruce added: 'How do you motivate players? It's very difficult. You are born with it, that's for sure.

'We are a better team with Kenwyne in and if you look at the stats we are more of a threat. He is the perfect foil for Benty and they complement each other.

'He needed that game last week against Fulham because he was out for five weeks. I expect him to be fresh but raring to go and give us that threat we had before he got suspended.

'All the players we signed in the summer have got it, I know for a fact, which is why I bought them. If you look at the five we paid big money on, they've all got a particular trait. They have a huge desire and a hunger to win. Cattermole in particular.

'When I first signed him people said you can't because he has fights, but he has been unbelievable for me for the last 18 months and he epitomises everything I like in a footballer.

'I've got to keep a hold of him off the pitch because he does let himself down occasionally but I know I can sleep easy on a Friday night over whether he will be on the pitch.'

Bruce is keeping his fingers crossed that George McCartney, his only remaining specialist full back, shakes off a hamstring strain to take his place in what could be a makeshift defence.